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Ry E. LYTTELTON 

^r%&XONTAINING THE LATEST 
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(c^ TIONS FOR THIS 
POPULAR GAME. 




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AND 

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International Cricket Guide. 

BY 

E: LYTTELTOlSr, 

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY ELEVEN 1875-8. 



This Book Contains the Latest Rules and Regulations 

for this Popular Game, the most Practical Hints 

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CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER. PAGE. 

I. — Cricket Management in Schools 5 

II.-Bowling 19 

III.— Fielding 27 

IV.— Batting 35 

Laws of Cricket. 54 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGE. 

Position of the Field for Lob Bowling 20 

Position of the Field for Fast Bowling.. 21 

The Bad Catch 24 

The Safe Catch 26 

The Bad Short-Slip 29 

The Good Short-Slip 31 

Bad Forward Play 40 

The Off Hit 44 

The Leg Hit 47 



International Crieket Guide. 



CHAPTER I. 

CRICKET MANAGEMENT IN SCHOOLS. 

The first essential in fostering of cricket in 
schools, it is generally thought, is to have some 
one on the spot whose authority is unquestionable, 
and whose judgment in the game is universally 
respected. In many schools this is a master ; in 
others, an outsider interested in the place pays 
frequent visits, and gives the boys the benefit of 
his experience and coaching. Another alterna- 
tive is to have a professional on the spot, who, 
invested with almost plenary powers, manages the 
order and arrangement of games, matches, and 
practice, as he thinks best. 

Supposing, then, that a satisfactory "coach" is 
secured, it remains to inquire into the scope and 
limits of cricket coaching. What is to be expect- 
ed from it ? Excessive hopes are often entertained 
by young cricketers of the good they will get from 
the advice of an experienced teacher ; and just as 
sick people often repose in a doctor, whom they 
must know is very much in the dark as to the 
nature of their complaint, the most unhesitating 
confidence, which, though ill-grounded, is by itself 
beneficial, so it would be unwise to seriously 
undermine the faith that boys have in coaching, 
since it acts upon them as a useful stimulus, and, 



6 INTEKNATIONAL CEICKET GUIDE. 

like the doctor's advice, it ought to be obeyed, 
because it is the best thing of the kind to be got. 
Still it is well to point out that neither as to bat- 
ting nor bowling can a great deal be done. Field- 
ing is another matter. But suppose a batsman is 
being coached, and gets bowled out, the best 
teacher in the world can very often say nothing 
beyond that he put his bat on one side of the ball ; 
or that he played back instead of forward. But an 
instant's reflection will show how largely the cor- 
rection of these grave faults depends on the boy's 
eye, and how little real help he gets from being 
told what he has done wrong. Of course he ought 
to be told it ; but the stress of the struggle only 
then begins for him. 

But in the department of fielding a great 
deal might be done, and it is to the consideration 
of that important fact that we must now address 
ourselves. 

It is. I believe, pretty generally admitted that a 
tradition of good fielding may be established in a 
school. It would be well to state clearly what 
this admission implies. It implies that fielding is 
more or less an acquired art ; certainly more so 
tiaan batting and bowling. No one has ever seri- 
ously spoken of a batting or bowling tradition 
existing in any school or institution. This clearly 
is because we know too well that, even if a school 
be blessed, with the simultaneous appearance of 
four first-rate batsmen, there is absolutely no rea- 
son to suppose that the next generation will be 
able to maintain their high standard, however 
eagerly they may emulate their example. Again, 
we all know that there is something in base-ball 
which imparts a remarkable power uf fielding, 
but no result at all comparable to this have been 
observed in batting and bowling. 

We find that though apparently a good fields- 
man is born, not made, yet, owing to certain influ- 
ences, a tradition of good fielding exists in certain 



INTEENATIONAL CKICKET GUIDE. 7 

schools, proving that boys who are not above the 
average in cricket ability can be got to field better 
than others ; that, moreover, in other schools so 
little fielding training is carried on, as to make it 
easj^ to understand why the standard in this, the 
least exciting department of the game, should be 
lower than it ought to be. It remains now to in- 
vestigate what the nature of this fielding stimulus 
or tradition is, how it may be brought into opera- 
tion, and what its effects might be expected to be. 

In the first place, we may be quite sure that in 
teaching boys to field, imitation must be an impor- 
tant agent. Hence it comCvS that a fielding tradi- 
tion is much more easy to maintain than to set 
going. A good cricketing master can show boys 
what good batting and good bowling is ; but, alas ! 
he can in fielding very seldom do more than tell 
what it ought to be, or, perhaps, in his own case, 
what it used to be. Eheul fugaces, and the subtle 
bodily change, known as ossification of sinews, 
is enough to account for a certain reserve of de- 
meanor on the part of masters in the field. Hence, 
if an example is to be set, it must be set by the 
boys to each other. The most sensible thing to do 
is to select the most promising field and train him. 
It is worth remarking that, however supple his 
limbs are, unless he has seen some first-class field- 
ing (and if he has seen any he is better off than 
most) he will have no idea what is expected of 
him. The acrobatic movements of a fine cover- 
point do not come by nature, though there may be 
a native aptitude for them. A boy will accord- 
ingly stand at cover-point and watch a ball go 
past him which he genuinely believes to be out of 
his reach ; when all the time, if he had really gone 
at it with a will, and lost no time at the start, he 
might quite easily have secured it. 

Again, unless strong measures are taken, the 
school-fieldsmen will stand on their heels, while 
the ball is being hit ; and this is generally the 



8 INTEBNATIONAL CKICKET GUIDE. 

cause of that he art -sickening want of life — that 
imperturbable middle-aged decorum, which is so 
often to be noticed among boy cricketers of seven- 
teen, eighteen, nineteen years of age, and is 
enough, when seen, to make old cricketers weep. 
But not to stand on the heels requires effort and 
stimulus ; and it is astonishing how often you 
may make the effort, and reap no reward ; the 
ball doesn't come. But when it does, what a 
change ! The leap, the determination that the 
batsman shall not score, the racing after the ball, 
are all part of the same dash which must begin 
from the toes, not from the heel. Now some of 
these earlj' principles can be taught to a boy by 
taking him singly, and throwing or hitting the 
ball, not too hard, either at him or to one side 
just within his utmost reach ; and, by constant en- 
couragement and exhortation, the trainer may in- 
duce him again and again to do violence to his 
propriety, in the first place, and then to stretch 
his sinews and curve his backbone till he finds 
himself capable of a brilliancy which he never be- 
fore suspected. The exercise is terrific, and ten 
minutes per dzem are amply sufficient. It is best 
to take only one at a time. No one can guess the 
improvement that is sure to ensue if this regime is 
faithfully observed. Why should it be supposed 
that dash in fielding should be within the reach of 
only a few ? Consider the years of special effort 
required to make an acrobat. Why, then, shouldn't 
a few minutes a day make all the difference to a 
young fellow's joints in the cricket-field ? 

I assume, then, that with proper care one or two 
of the most lissom youngsters can be made into 
really good fields, and that the example will 
spread. But a great deal more is required. Now, 
before this can be inculcated with success, the im- 
portance of keenness in fielding must be fully real- 
ized. The reason why this part of the game re- 
quires so much attention is that a great deal of the 



INTERNATIONAL CRICKET GUIDE. 9 

successful fielding we hear of or see is the result of 
determination and resolve. A deep field is stand- 
ing with his whole body ready to jump in any 
direction that may be required. There comes a 
catch, but it is very doubtful if he can get to it ; 
only because he was ready to start he does so, and 
perhaps the best bat on the side walks home ;■ or, 
owing to the same fact, he again and again saves 
a ball from going to the boundary. Now, if this 
is the case with a deep field, how much more with 
cover-point and other "save one" fields. When- 
ever cover-point or mid-off cover an unexpected 
ball, it may be that they save three or four runs 
at once, but it is certain that they prevent the 
batsmen subsequently attempting a good many 
which they could certainly run, were they not 
afraid. The aggregate of runs thus saved is con- 
siderable ; and the covering of balls only just 
within reach is largely dependent on the being 
ready to start. 

If any one doubts this let me ask him if he starts 
for a hundred yards' race leanixig forward, with 
his muscles braced, or standing still like a sentry 
or a policeman. Everybody knows that a really 
good start in a short race means a yard or two to 
the good ; and in fielding it would mean a good 
deal, though not so much, as the direction in 
which to move is not to be ascertained previous to 
the moment of starting. Again, nothing is more 
common than for mid-oft', short-leg, third man, 
and cover-point to have to race after a tolerably 
strong stroke, which goes between the fields and is 
worth two or three runs. In every long innings 
there are very many of these. I will venture to 
say that the difference between an active man's 
greatest speed and average running would mean 
one run saved on each of seven such hits out of 
ten. In other words, instead of scoring thirty the 
batsman would score twenty-three. 

How to maintain eagerness is a serious problem. 



cW^ 



10 INTEENATIONAL CRICKET GUIDE. 

Interest in the games or matches is of course essen- 
tial ; and to secure this, schools adopt the plan of 
varying pick-up games with house or dormitory- 
matches. In most schools to set house against 
house, or dormitory against dormitory, is a sure 
and certain way of provoking interest. A glance 
at boys playing in these, and at others playing in 
ordinary pick-up games, will detect the difference 
in the zest and keenness of the combatants. But 
the question cannot be settled off-hand by merely 
instituting house-matches in perpetuo. 

The contests for first place would be settled be- 
fore the end of the season, and, even if this diffi- 
culty were obviated by the expedient of a list in 
order of merit — a not uncommon system — a want 
of variety would be felt if the same sort of match- 
es were continually being played. Added to which 
there must be games among the first twenty-two 
in the school, to settle the first eleven ; and this 
would aestroy the house-matches. A kind of sham 
house-match, with the chief representatives play- 
ing elsewhere in the "swell" game, is not uncom- 
mon, and seems to work well. Anyhow, the pres- 
ent custom is to have a considerable number of 
pick-up games intercalated among house contests. 
These games are arranged according to clubs 
which represent different portions of the school, 
so that, roughly speaking, it may be said that 
games divide boys by age, house-matches by 
houses or dormitories. 

Now, as the chief difficulty is to maintain an in- 
terest in ordinary games throughout one season, 
one recommendation may be made with some as- 
surance. The players should be encouraged to 
compete for colors to wear, which need consist of 
nothing further than a cap of well-marked hue. 
There is no reason to underrate the power of this 
enticement. Care must be taken to avoid ex- 
pense ; and much will be left to the discretion of 
the cricketing master as to superintending in any 



INTEKNATIONAL CKICKET GUIDE. 11 

way the presentation of these colors. Boys will 
show simply astounding want of judgment in 
their selection of players, and the principle of 
popularity will be allowed undue weight. Never- 
theless, a rough justice is somehow generally at- 
tained, and it is unquestionably a valuable pipce 
of responsibility for a young captain to be intrust- 
ed with. When flagrant favoring seems to be 
going on, a judicious hint to the captain of the 
school eleven — in whose hands the correction 
power ought to be — will generally set matters 
right. 

The first is the combination of fielding practice 
with batting, which consists in those boys who 
are employed in either batting or bowling stand- 
ing vaguely here and there, and returning the 
ball to the bowler whenever it is hit in their direc- 
tion. This, however, is not really practice at all, 
but more like a lounge, and may be dismissed 
without further remark. 

The second is the attempt to train each fields- 
man in his own place, by placing the eleven 
round a double-wicket pitch exactly as if a game 
were being played. Two batsmen then go in, and 
hit as far as they can to each in turn, running tip- 
and run fashion, so as to practice the quick return 
to the wicket-keep. This is an honest but very in- 
effectual attempt to meet the difficulty. The fields 
are being taught somiething when the ball goes to 
them ; but in real life it is found that this is just 
what it won't do. Since skilled batsman cannot 
command the ball sufficiently, each man gets far 
too little to do, and often the strokes have some- 
thing artificial about them, and unlike the real 
thing. Still, for fields favorably placed, such as 
cover point, mid-off, and mid-on, the tip-and-run 
plan is undoubtedly useful, and should be occa- 
sionally practiced. But the real objection is that 
only eleven boys can be employed at once, and 
very likely there is not room for another such 



12 INTERNATIONAL CEICKET GUIDE. 

costly expenditure of space as would be required 
to provide for the next batch of players, the sec- 
ond and third elevens. 

The third method is for some one who can give 
the ball a good larrup to stand a long way off 
from a semi-circle of fields, and hit balls to them 
in succession. Here, again, while they are re- 
ceiving each ball they are learning something and 
good is done ; but (1) the hits off the hand are not 
like hits off bowling ; (2) all the fields are reduced 
to an unnatural uniformity, cover-point, and 
short-slip being made to stop the sort of hits 
which only the deep fields get ; (b) the objection 
again holds good that each man gets too little to 
do ; (4) there is no practice for throwing-in ; (5) 
in most grounds, while this is going on, the bat- 
ting practice is seriously interfered with. 

It is possible for the first two or even three 
elevens of the school to practice together, so that 
either two boys are batting side by side at two 
nets, or four, two back to back with two. Prob- 
ably the arrangements at most schools would not 
require more than two wickets to be going at a 
time. Now the ordinary usage is for each bats- 
man to be enclosed by an off -net and leg-net, or, 
at least, to play with one net behind the stumps 
and one between him and the next player ; the 
only fielding that is done is by a few casuals who 
pick up the ball when it comes their way. Sup- 
posing, then, that only the net between two wick- 
ets were retained, the necessity would arise for 
fieldsmen behind each wicket. One wicket, more- 
over, requires all the off-fields, the other all the 
on-fields. On these simple facts depends the whole 
arrangement. As early in the season as possible 
those players who will probably occupy certain 
definite posts in the first eleven should accustom 
themselves to occupying those posts during the 
time their comrades are practicing batting; the 
off-fields ranging themselves with reference to 



INTEBNATIONAL CBICKET GUIDE. 13 

the ofE-wicket, the on-fields with reference to the 
on- wicket. Behind each wicket there would be a 
long-stop as well as, if thought advisable, a 
wicket-keep. 

If the batting practice continued for a long 
time, to prevent monotony the fieldsmen would, 
after an interval, change to the place they would 
occupy in a match in alternate overs, e.g., long- 
leg would move across to mid-off, or the country 
and the country fields come over to short-slip and 
third man. But in general it would be well not 
to confine the boys too strictly to their allotted 
posts, since a well-trained cricketer ought to be 
able to field well anywhere. But there are one or 
two places where scarcely any one can field really 
well, except by dint of constant familiarity and 
practice — notably point, short-slip, and third man. 
So, naturally, the school representatives chosen 
for these places would be careful to occupy them 
in practice. Others might interchange at more or 
less frequent intervals. But the great desidera- 
tum must always be secured, that, instead of 
loafing about in purposeless ennui, the onlookers 
should be doing something, occupying a definite 
place in the field ; and it would be to their inter- 
est to keep their attention fixed on the ball, to 
learn its motions, to anticipate its sinuosities — in 
short, to show zeal, and field properly, since by 
doing so they would" improve day by day. 

Especially in regard to the three difficult places 
above named would the advantage of this system 
appear. For short-slip, for instance, familiarity 
is extremely important ; and the benefit of turn- 
ing any bad or timid field into a long-stop pro tern. 
would be considerable. An hour at that, with the 
prospect, in case of carelessness, of either being 
rapped on the tibia, or of running after a bye, 
would turn many a poor sieve-like mid-off into a 
good robust field : and, of course, whoever was 



14 INTEKNATIONAL CKICKET GUIDE. 

managing the practice would be careful to temper 
the wind to the shorn lamb. 

Another advantage that might then be secured 
would be the opportunity offered to various play- 
ers to learn wicket-keeping. The prevailing neg- 
lect of wicket-keeping is a gross folly. First, as 
regards those who are to be regular wicket-keep- 
ers, why do they never practice ? Their art is 
every whit as difficult as batting, and it is aston- 
ishing how its supreme importance to the effi- 
ciency of an eleven is overlooked. There is prob- 
ably no hope of getting a really good man out on 
a good wicket, which can be compared to the 
chance of his sending a catch to the wicket-keeper 
before his eye is in. 

Of course, the regular wicket-keeper's practice 
of his art must be limited by consideration for his 
hands. Even allowing for this, it is probable that 
he would gain if he devoted some time every day 
merely to taking the slow balls, and watching the 
fast ones. I repeat that familiarity with the 
motion of the ball is enormously important. But 
every member of any team would gain if he were 
taught how to keep wicket in early youth. In the 
first place, it certainly helps the eye in batting. 
The problem of judging pace, pitch, and break is 
exactly the same in both cases. Next, it teaches 
sureness of hand in fielding. A field who has 
learned wicket-keeping must find any catch, es- 
pecially if it does not involve running, mere 
child's play compared with a chance behind the 
sticks. It is impossible that any such continuous 
exercise of hand and eye of the most subtle de- 
scription could be anything but valuable to the 
general quickness and sureness both of fielding 
and batting. Lastly, even if all the eleven do not 
learn how to keep wicket, there ought always to 
be one or more ready to take the place of the 
regular man, in case of accident or absence. 

It remains to notice a possible objection or two. 



INTERNATIONAL CRICKET GUIDE. 15 

First, there is no provision made for throwing in. 
This is true, though at times the fields could throw 
in as if in a match, but certainly this could be 
only occasional. The truth is, that thro wing-in 
must be practiced specially by two or three play- 
ers together in a remote corner of the field, and it 
must not be forgotten that the above proposal is 
not to be regarded as supplementing such indi- 
vidual practice, but only as "a means of utilizing 
for fielding purposes the large amount of time 
now devoted to batting practice by itself. More 
serious by far" is the difficulty that in many 
schools th^ exact number who may be practicing 
at any given time cannot be fixed, and the sym- 
metry of the system breaks down unless the pre- 
cise complement of men is obtained. But the 
system suggested is not only symmetrical ; it is 
elastic to any extent. Supposing there are eight 
boys present (and short of this any social fielding 
becbmes impossible;, one will be batting, two will 
be bowling. The remaining five, instead of trying 
to cover all the ground, will be given, say only 
the off-side places, the net covering the on-side. 
Or two nets could be used, and there would be 
three or four fields behind the wicket, and one 
overhead ; and so on. The elasticity consists in 
the use of more nets where necessary to reduce 
the number of fields. On the other hand, where 
more than seventeen or eighteen have to be pro- 
vided for, another practice-wicket would have to 
be set up at a distance, with one, two, or three 
nets, according to the number of the overflow. 
Of course, if it is quite impossible to provide for 
this space, there is nothing to be done but agitate 
for more playgi'ound. Cricket can neither be 
played nor learned without good large stretches of 
green grass, and if such are not provided it is not 
the fault of this suggestion. 

A few words only will be necessary on the sub- 
ject of catching, the usual method of hitting big 






16 INTEKNATIONAL CEICKET GUIDE. 

high catches to a pack of fieldsmen a long way 
off is not bad fun, and is of some use to those who 
are to be deep fields. It ought to teach them how 
to judge high hits, and how best to hold their 
hands, since it seems that each person must settle 
this for himself. But as to ordinary catching, it 
is pretty plain from the example of the American 
base-ball players, that we have a good deal to 
learn. It may be doubted whether a real increase 
of agility, consequent on standing ready for a leap 
in any direction, would not materially increase 
the number of brilliant catches every year. If 
the difference between the two classes of players 
is due to any other cause, I would hazard the con- 
jecture that the base-ball, being very different 
from the cricket-ball as to the distribution of its 
weight and the nature of its flight, may partially 
account for the certainty and brilliancy of the 
American catching. 

The captain of a side can do something to help 
this state of things by removing for a time a coun- 
try field to some place nearer in, where his unset- 
tled nerves will be less taxed. Again something 
may be done by getting young fieldsmen to see 
that, as long as they are playing in cold weather, 
they are sure to miss catches. When a ball is 
certain to sting, the hand is certain to flinch, and 
the very least reluctance to endure the impact will 
cause a miss. Therefore, young players should 
never be out of heart if they miss catches when 
they are either cold or very tired ; and if they can 
miss a ball now and then without losing heart, 
they are useful men to the side. On the whole, 
however, there is little to be said and much to be 
done in this matter. Constant practice, hardening 
the hands, keeping up pluck, these things do some 
good. 

We now pass on to consider other important 
questions in the training of young players. An 
obvious diflSculty presents itself in the early 



INTERNATIONAL CRICKET GUIDE. 17 

stages. Small boys cannot possibly use full-sized 
bats. The mischief that results if they do is fatal. 
It is impossible for them to play straight, because 
the end of the bat smites the ground, and the 
stroke comes to naught. Besides which, the ex- 
cessive weight makes them late for all the hits. 
The way out of the ditticulty is sensible and sim- 
ple ; a young player shoula use an undersized bat ; 
and at the period when he begins to feel conscious 
of growing power, and scents the battle from afar, 
care should be taken to see that he doesn't order 
a full-sized bat. 

The next question arises from the fact that boys 
from ten to fourteen or fifteen cannot bowl a 
cricket ball with ease or for any length of time at 
twenty-two yards. Hence a movement which is 
now being made for reducing the distances in pre- 
paratory-school matches to twenty yards. But 
this is far from being so sensible or so simple as 
the modfiication of the bat. The shortening of the 
distance alters the character of the bowling. 
Everybody ought to know that it makes the ditii- 
cult balls easier to judge. This is a most material 
fact, and generally ignored. Secondly, a full-sized 
bat is meant to correspond to a full-sized ball, but 
an under-sized bat ought to correspond with an 
under-sized ball. 

The great moment for a batsman is seeing his hit 
fly free and far ; the climax of a fieldsman's day 
is making a good catch ; the glory of a bowler is 
to be able to keep up on end without fatigue, and 
give his whole attention to his pace and pitch. 

Among all young players a great deal can be 
done by bringing the imitative faculty into play. 
We are^told that a child learns to speak not only 
by the ear, but by fixing his eyes on the inside of 
the adult's mouth, so as to assist his investigation 
of what is going forward. But a problem soon 
has to be faced. Care should be taken to give 
young players a pattern to watch in the shape of 



18 INTEKNATIONAL CKICKET GUIDE. 

some good batsman of chaste, simple style. A 
school might be named where the mannerism of 
some former champion was rapidly developed into 
a flourish which has survived for nearly thirty 
years, through succeeding generations, and has 
certainly worked mischief. By a simple style, I 
mean one where the batsman merely makes the 
required motion for each stroke, and eschews 
ornament. Some ornament is innocent enough 
where it comes quite naturally, but it is nearly 
always ugly and mischievous when it has been 
copied. 

But such matters as these concerning the train- 
ing of batting are connected with the diflicult and 
important question of providing good wickets for 
the boys. 

In many schools, especially in such as enjoy the 
advantage of being near to a lown, cricket is 
carried on under the disadvantage of want of 
space. This is a grievous state of things. But 
still it is a fact that as grim winter succeeds to 
summer, so football takes the place of cricket, 
and in very many places has to be played on the 
same pieces of ground. This is a bad business^ 
During the autumn the cricket pitch requires at- 
tention and relaying and doctoring generally. If 
this cannot be done at the right time it must be 
done in tne spring. But the golden opportunity 
has gone. Nothing more than some poor tinker- 
ing is possible after December's days are done. 
Moreover, it is not uncommon to find football con- 
tinuing merrily into the Lent term, so that even 
the time for putting in a few necessary patches is 
sadly curtailed. INow the result of this is that, 
except for the first eleven, the pitches throughout 
the summer are rough. 

It cannot be too often insisted on that this state 
of things prevents a certain class of cricketers 
from ever reaching their prime — those namely, 
who are not gifted with the best nerves, or the best 



INTERNATIONAL CEICKET GUIDE. 19 

padded ribs, and have no unusual love for the 
game to start with. Certain it is that the more 
robust geniuses will contrive to struggle on and 
finally merge as good players. But they would 
not lose, if this epoch of hazardous lough-and- 
tumble cricket were obliterated from their lives. 
In after life they will be called upon to habituate 
themselves to just the amount of variation in the 
wickets which is produced by the climate, and 
very little more, since good wickets are becoming 
the rule everywhere. Why, then, during the 
most delicate time of their cricket education, 
should their development of style be seriously and 
inevitably interrupted ? There is no answer to 
this ; all that happens is, that while their progress 
is hindered, others are prevented from learning 
the game at all. 



CHAPTER II. 

BOWLING. 

The training of bowlers and bowling is, indeed, 
a subject which might daunt a stout-hearted 
author. There is something that baffles the keen- 
est observation, either of telescope or microscope, 
in a really first-rate bowler's motions ; or, rather, 
it would be truer to say that no amount of inspec- 
tion reveals the secret sufficiently clearly to ena- 
ble any one else to acquire it. Men of similar 
build have been known to copy each other's 
actions till a strange similarity was noticeable ; 
but there always remains a certain difference in 
the flight and bound of the ball. 

The fact is, bowling is a special endowment of 
nature, totally unlike anything else. It is easy to 
see that batting and fielding largely depend on 
nature, but some of the strangest facts about 
bowling are not in the least true about other de- 
partments of the game, or indeed of any game. 



20 INTERNATIONAL CRICKET GUIDE. ' 

For instance, who can explain the mysterious 
evaneauence of some boys' bowling ? We know of 

I 
I 



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I 



^ CQ CO ^ 

« • ^ 5 



(^ 



• 



cases where, for a few months it may be, the ball 
was delivered with just that peculiar spin and 



INTERNATIONAL CRICKET GUIDE. 21 

facility which denotes the heaven-sent gift. Win- 
ter comes in the usual way, and lo ! at the return 
of spring the bowler is a bowler no more. Some 
inspired person puts it down to overwork. We 
all hear a great deal of boys being overbowled^ 
and it is sometimes insisted that, if proper care 



Lo/vs srofi 

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%WICKET HE£P£R ^(U-Tvct nra^t^ 

COVER POINT 

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LOAfQ OFP 
ksJ" warvtecLi 

were taken of young boys at public schools, we 
should see a large supply of bowlers at the univer- 
sities, and the lamentable inferiority of the gentle- 
men as compared to the players would soon be 
rectified. 



22 INTEKNATIONAL CRICKET GUIDE. 

Good lob- bowlers are and always have been 
very few in number. .This is due less to the 
inherent diiiiculty of lob- bowling, than to the 
proneness of young cricketers to discouragements 
A lad of fifteen thinks he can bowl lobs, and tries ; 
of course, at first, with small success, for the sim- 
ple reason that the batsman is not afraid of him, 
his field cannot hold catches, and, if they could, 
he has no notion where to put them. After one 
or two attempts at this, he retires to fielding long 
slips, conscious that he has not yet found his 
vocation. Now, a young bowler who perseveres 
is almost sure to get some wickets in this way 
before long, and, after that, he makes his at- 
tempts under new conditions ; that is to say, any 
nervous batsman thinks there is some strange 
"devil" in his bowling, to which he must suc- 
cumb ; and a bad lob-bowler has a very good 
chance of doing something if the batsmen are 
nervous. There is a deal of waste in nature. If 
other bowlers, who have promise in them, come 
to naught in the hurly-burly of public-school 
cricket, or are forever ruined by the sloggers 
on the village green, how much more the gentle 
and sensitive "lobster," whose success depends so 
largely on facts he is ignorant of and conditions 
he cannot control. A little discouragement at 
the outset, and he tries no more. 

Now, since some lob-bowlers acquire a fair con- 
trol over the ball, but seem not to know what to 
do with it when they have got it, a hint or two 
as to some simple tricks may not be out of place ; 
though it must be repeated that dodginess is 
no use till accuracy is learned ; and that for one 
accurate plain bowler who lacks ideas, there are 
twenty who are full of them, but w"ho in their 
most cunning moments bowl their worst balls. 

The following principles, however, are sound. 
Watch the batsman. It may be that you have 
before you a dashing, driving bat, who will long 



INTERNATIONAL CEICKET GUIDE. 23 

to get your balls on the full pitch or half -volley. 
Of course, the object is to get him to run out to a 
ball that is too short. So you first bowl him some 
steady low balls without much twist ; then a 
high, very slow one, dropping short on the off- 
side and twisting away. If he is a very nimble 
man he may get to the place and drive the ball 
for three or four ; but if he lacks resolution he 
will perhaps only get half-way, and be stumped, 
or very nearly there, to be caught at cover-point ; 
and mind, if the field drops the catch, go on ex- 
actly as if nothing had happened. 

Or the batsman may be fast-footed, and playing 
lobs as if they were fast balls forward and back. 
The best ball to puzzle him with, is a fast one 
pitching straight and twisting away, rendering a 
catch at point possible, or a very slow twister far 
up, which may tempt the player from a mere 
sense of shame to do something violent. This 
style of play, however, if maintained for Ictng is 
very wearing to the bowler, and on a good hard 
wicket will generally be diflicult to overcome, 
unless the lobs are bowled with an unusual twist. 

Lastly, there is the over-cautious batsman, who 
thinks he can play every ball back. For him 
you should have ready a really fast ball on the 
leg-stump without any twist. This may induce 
him to step back in the hope of gaining time, and 
so hitting his wicket. If the previous balls have 
all been slow and curly, and he has become so that 
he feels himself thoroughly secure with them, the 
fast ball is very likely to be effective. But you 
must learn how to increase the speed of the ball 
without letting every one see what is going 
forward. 

There are various ways of doing this. One is 
to increase the speed or length of j' our run. It 
is a plain truth that the pace of the ball depends 
on the run, as well as on the swing of the arm ; 
as can be verified by observing the impetus given 



24 



INTEKNATIONAL CEICKET GUIDE. 



to projectiles thrown from a railway-carriage 
window. Now, the pace of the run up to the 
crease before the ball leaves the hand is of small, 
importance ; the difference depends on the ball 
being propelled by a body in fast motion or by 
one hardly moving at all. So you can run fast 
up to the crease, and, just at the moment of bowl- 




THE BAD CATCH. 

ing, stop dead. This will give the ball a slow 
flight, even though your arm moves through the 
air at its ordinary rate. Or you may take your 
usual number of strides, but each a little longer 
than usual. This gives extra speed to the run, 
and consequently to the ball, but the batsman can 



INTERNATIONAL CRICKET GUIDE. 25 

hardly perceive the reason why. His eyes are 
fixed on the bowler's arm. Lastly, there is a 
trick of giving the ball a forward spin with the 
tips of the fingers as it leaves the hand, which 
causes a fast bound from the pitch. Combined 
with a fast run, this spin makes a ball come along 
at a surprising pace, wthout the arm doing any- 
thing out of the common. 

In a general way, then, it may be said that no 
eleven is ever quite complete without a lob- 
bowler, for the simple reason that no one ever 
knows what batsman may fall a victim to a mo- 
mentary carelessness, or want of nerve, nor how 
bad a ball a successful lob may be. Let the 
bowler remember that the worst possible lob, 
which very rarely gets a wicket, is a long hop on 
the legs ; to be a respectable bowler he must send 
very few of these. Next, that the slower his ball 
is the more twist there ought to be ; and, as a 
rule, the slowest bails should be on the off-stump, 
or outside, the fast ones on the leg-stump. Au- 
dacity in the bowler, and pluck in the fields are 
important. If a batsman is very aggressive and 
seems perfectly at home, don't suppose that he is 
so necessarily. Very often a running-out player 
has secret misgivings which he tries to hide 
under a display of daring. Lastly, the worst 
folly which a captain can well commit is to pos- 
sess such a bowler and to put him on when runs 
are coming fast. 

Some of the above remarks apply to other kinds 
of bowling. There remains, anyhow, little that 
can be said in the way of practical advice, except- 
ing perhaps as to the interesting trick that some 
bowlers have of changing their pace. 

Anyhow it seems quite clear that the knack is. 
not necessarily confined to slow bowlers, though 
it is curious that in England it is universal among 
slow bowlers and almost non-existent among fast. 
On khe other hand, we may infer that it is more 



26 



INTERNATIONAL CEICKET GUIDE. 



difficult of attainment in fast bowling, but not 
impossible, even for a large number. As to the 
benefits of it, they are indubitable. However 
long a batsman may stay in, as long as the balls 
come at different speed he cannot afford to relax 
his vigilance. He never reaches the condition of 
that peaceful security, free from thought and 




THE SAFE CATCH. 

anxiety, which only requires an almost automatic 
mechanical style of play, to be maintained. If 
the player plays without unusual vigilance, a per- 
fectly simple ball may bowl him clean out any 
moment, simply because he fails to note the 
change of pace. Now, how is this trick acquired ? 
The principle may be illustrated in this way. 



INTERNATIONAL CRICKET GUIDE. 27 

Supposing a man takes a racket and holds it out 
flat, and on the strings places a racket- ball ; 
then if he makes a swift horizontal stroke through 
the air, the ball will fall off behind the racket. 
It slips off behind, because it rests too loosely on 
the strings to stand the violence of their motion. 
Now, in bowling this may be done, though it re- 
quires time and practice before it can be combined 
with precision of pitch. It is, anyhow, obvious 
that up to a certain point the ball must be gripped 
fast if it is to be thrown or bowled with great 
speed. Hence, if this grip varies, we may sup- 
pose that the ball will in varying degrees answer 
to the impetus given by the arm. In other words, 
without a ctiange of action, the pace will change. 
If bowled overhand, the ball will also be affected 
by the fingers in succession sweeping down one 
side as the hand quits it ; and this, of course, 
results in a break from the off in the case of a 
right-hand bowler. Whether diiRcult or not to 
all, and impossible to some, this trick ought to be 
practiced by every fast bowler. Many would do 
no good with it, but a few would ; and anything 
that improves bowling even a little is to be looked 
upon as an unmixed boon to the game. The num- 
ber of bowlers who have hitherto made an honest 
attempt to acquire the knack is extremely small, 
so that we need not forecast from the past what 
the future might be. 



CHAPTER III. 

FIELDING. 

Enough, perhaps, will have been urged in the 
chapter on cricket in schools ag" to the general im- 
portance of the beautiful art known as "fielding," 
and the possibilities which exist of great improve- 
ment in it, if sufficient care is taken by young 
playePB. The subject of ,the present chapter will 



28 INTEKNATIONAL CRICKET GUIDE. 

therefore be simply some recommendations to be 
observed by the different fieldsmen in their re- 
spective places in the field. It might be supposed 
that directions as to such matters as stopping a 
ball, or throwing in straight, v^ould be superflu- 
ous. But yet there are places in the field where 
something more than a supple back-bone and a 
capacious pair of hands is wanted; namely, 
knowledge, particularly as regards the place to 
stand, how to back-up, and to which wicket to 
throw. On these points a few remarks may be 
found useful. 

SHOET-SLIP. 

Of all the stations in the field which are ren- 
dered less difficult by knowledge, the scientific 
and much neglected post of short-slip , is the one 
that first claims attention. The reason is, that 
nowhere is even a good field so lost if he does 
not know where and how to stand. It is a fact 
not easy to explain that, whenever a short-slip 
is placed wrong, he is too square, and probably 
not far enough out. No captain errs in the re- 
verse sense. It is a mere matter of experience 
that the commonest snick off fast bowling does 
fly exceedingly fine, and very sharp from the bat. 
Now, if short-slip is standing too wide and too 
near, he gets a catch which not only comes faster 
than it need, but also is directed to his left hand ; 
in short, a catch such as is frequently missed. It 
is supremely galling to a captain to see a difficult 
chance missed, when he knows that, had the field 
obeyed his directions, it would have been a very 
easy one. For no matter how fast the bowling 
be, a short-slip catch is a very easy one, provided 
the field be in his right place. Even tlien, one 
more condition is necessary ; he must be keenly 
attentive, and really expecting the ball to come. 
Now this sounds like a trifie, but in a long innings 
it is not so. It means that whenever a straight 



INTERNATIONAL CRICKET GUIDE. 



29 



ball or one to the off is on its way^and that with 
some bowlers means every ball — short-slip has 
not only to have his hands out, but his knees ivell 
bent, after the fashion of a wicket-keeper. If he 
does this every time, it means that he is a keener 
cricketer than many who might be named. One 
alleviation may be allowed. If the ball goes at or 




THE BAD SHORT-SLIP. 

outside the batsman's leg:s, he need not put him- 
self out. The ball won't come to him, or, if it 
does, it will come fairly high and slow. Further, 
he must be on the look-out for the uncanny twist 
given by a snick. If the ground is hard, that 
twist will not act unless the ball comes very 
slowly ; if the ground is soft and sticky, the twist 



30 INTERNATIONAL CEICKET GUIDE. 

will act: there remains, therefore, a condition of 
ground when it sometimes will act, sometimes 
not. No short-slip will find it easy to stop snicks 
on days of this sort. It is one of the tasks set to 
people toward the performance of which no advice 
is of th6 least service, though in case of failure 
there will be no lack of blame. 

COVER-POINT, MID-OFF, AND MID-ON. 

In these positions the fieldsman has a plain 
task, though not always an easy one. That is to 
say, it consists in the main of stopping balls and 
throwing them in. There is less doubt about 
where he is to stand than is sometimes the case. 

But still there are some refinements which a 
good field will hasten to practice. In the first 
place, the question of where to stand does not 
vary with the batsmen or the bowlers so much as 
with the state of the ground. When it is hard, 
stand well out, because the ball will come easily 
to you ; when it is dead, come in closer. This is 
plain enough. But it might be objected that if 
you stand far back the batsmen will steal a short 
run. True, perhaps ; but better risk that than 
lose all the hard hits that are made in your direc- 
tion, which a yard or two further back you might 
cover. But there is no reason why you should 
lose these short runs. A man who is active on 
his legs, and endowed with that precious faculty 
of being able to start at once, has a grand chance 
of running a man out, especially at mid~off. Not 
long ago a particularly fine cover-point, after run- 
ning out a venturesome batsman, remarked 
quietly, "When I see a man trying that on, I feel 
like a spider with a fly. " A noble sentiment, show- 
ing a real cricketer. His method was simply this. 
When a new player came in, he would retreat 
further off, and stand with a gentle lack-luster 
appearance, so as to lead the striker to suppose 
that he had to deal with an ordinary hard-run 



INTERNATIONAL CRICKET GUIDE. 



31 



cover-point, who lacked interest in the game and 
didn't know where to stand. There are shoals of 
such fieldsmen to be met with, and any one may 
be excused for thinking that one more of the 
genus is before him. Soon a gentle hit is made 
toward cover. The field trots very slowly toward 
it, but on his toes, and eying the batsman mean- 
time, till he hears the welcome words "Come on" 
uttered after a short but fatal hesitation. Then, 




THE GOOD SHORT-SLIP. 

with a startling change of motion, he pounces on 
the ball and lodges it in the wicket-keeper's hands 
before the men have crossed between the wickets, 
or while a hasty but fervid protest is being mut- 
tered by the further batsman in the mile of the 
pitch. Mid-off is even more favorably placed. 
Very often the ball is hit quietly toward him, and 
as he stands full in view of the striker, he can 
easily tempt hitn by assuming an otiose demeanor 



32 INTEENATIONAL CEICKET GUIDE. 

and by standing far out, to risk a short run. More- 
over, when he picks up the ball, everything is in 
his favor for throwing in straight, as the wicket 
stands broad and inviting before him. There are 
few more perfectly satisfactory moments in our 
checkered lives than when one of these innocent 
frauds is quietly conceived and fairly accom- 
plished. 

THIRD MAN. 

This is a very scientific place, which gives 
opportunities of running out similar to those of 
cover-point and mid-off, but is complicated with 
some difficulties connected with the wicket to be 
thrown to, and with the peculiar spin of the ball. 
The puzzle about the latter is that on a hard 
ground it doesn't act at all ; and a young fields- 
man who first takes to the place, full of warning 
about the twist, will find that though the ball is 
cut with great severity and glances off the bat, yet 
it comes hissing along the grass in a straight line. 

Now, when a short run is attempted, third man 
has a choice of wick^ets to throw at. 

If he selects the nearer, he runs less chance of 
an overthrow, and can better trust the wicket- 
keeper to be in his place than if he threw to the 
bowler. On the other hand, the batsman is more 
likely to be in his ground. 

It is common for the striker to be called to, not 
to call, when a cut is made, and be this right or 
wrong, third man must take account of the fact. 
The caller knows his danger, and hastens accord- 
ingly, but the striker has to start after hitting, 
without backing-up, and cannot exactly estimate 
his danger, unless Parthian-wise he turns his head 
while running, which diminishes his speed. So if 
third man is a strong thrower, he certainly ought 
to throw to the bowler's wicket, a long hop, and, 
if the bowler is in his place behind the sticks, he 
will make it very dangerous for the batsman. In 



INTEKNATIONAL CKICKET GUJDE. 33 

short, third man, the bowler, and the backer-up 
have it in their power to accomplish a really valu- 
able service to the side. They can, by one bril- 
liant and conscientious piece of combined fielding, 
deter all the following batsmen on the side from 
attempting to run these common-strokes, and the 
ultimate difference in the aggregate of runs is 
very considerable indeed. 

Third man and cover-point should work till 
they become quick, not in order to win the undis- 
criminating applause of the mob, but to save runs 
—a far more important matter. And if it be 
objected to this that safety in fielding is a very 
important (Quality, and that the tendency of these 
remarks is to put a premium on brilliancy even 
though combined with uncertainty, it may truth- 
fully be answered that for many a young cricketer 
the working to secure brilliimcy is the only hope 
of his ever becoming safe in the field. 

LONG-LEG. 

When a hard leg-hitter is in, and one of those 
old-fashioned good bowlers on, who gires a rea- 
sonable proportion of leg-balls, there is scarcely 
anything in any game that can surpass the de- 
light of fielding long-leg. Of course, the field 
ought to be a very strong thrower, and a fast 
runner ; but quickness of throwing is almost as 
important as strength, and even an average run- 
ner, if he really runs his hardest, will anyhow 
begin to be a good field. To take the first point, 
he ought to notice whether the batsman swiners 
his bat vertically or horizontally, because in the 
one case the ball will be hit square, in the other 
sharp. 

Then, again, the field must be ready for the 
miss-hits which slide off the bat and go sharp, and 
according to these different considerations he will 
take up his position. In spite of all precaution 
it is certain that such balls will go wide of him, 



34 INTEENATIONAL CKICKET GUIDE. 

and give him a weary trot before the day is over. 
But he can always remember that if he stirs his 
legs with real zest; throughout a long inning, he 
will certainly save a great many runs ; and no 
man ought to require more stimulus than this. 
Again, should it be necessary for him to go 
sharper, he ought to move nearer to the wicket 
as well ; that is to say, in a line at right angles 
to that between the two wickets produced. The 
reason of this is that the snicks and hits which 
go sharp, are not so hard as the square hits ; and 
the fieldsman ought to save two by standing near 
in. Then, again, he should naturally observe 
where the clean hits of each batsman go ; espe- 
cially if they are in the air. Some players hit 
ball after ball in the same place, and yet a vacu- 
ous-minded long-leg will return cheerfully to his 
original position, twenty-five yards away from 
the right spot, and wonder to find himself tired 
by the evening, and the match lost. 

As to running the men out, the best chances 
consist on the gentle strokes played toward him 
by a batsman who is -sharp enough to know that if 
he runs fast he may score two, and irritate the 
field. Long-leg's business, then, is to swoop 
down on the ball as fast as he possibly can run, 
and send it either a smart catch to the wicket- 
keeper or a long hop to the bowler, who of course 
ought to be ready behind the stumps, with mid- 
off backing behind him. Even if the effort fails, 
long-leg will probably fluster the batsmen suffi- 
ciently to prevent their trying such a run again. 

In short, taking one thing with another, it is 
impossible to ponder on the beauties of long-leg 
fielding as it used to be, without heaving a sigh 
over the changes which the prevalence of smooth 
wickets has introduced into the game. The de- 
fense is, as a rule, a comparatively simple affair, 
and, as for the leg-hitting, alas, and alas ! it is 



INTERNATIONAL CRICKET GUIDE. 35 

well-nigh a dead art in first-class matches, simply 
because leg-balls are no longer bowled. 



CHAPTER IV. 

BATTING. 

It will be useful to consider first what is the 
ideal set before a young batsman. What is it 
that in buoyant moments he faintly hopes to be 
able some day to achieve ? We may answer this 
by saying that it is the finished cultivation of cer- 
tain natural gifts, and that the cultivation of 
those gifts means simply gradual formation of 
certain habits which do not at first come natur- 
ally. To take one instance. The natural motion 
of two arms holding an object like a bat, is a kind 
of pull to the on. A pull is the primitive hit of 
the natural man ; but to bat well a man must play 
straight. This is a most artificial, laboriously 
acquired motion ; but learning to bat involves the 
gradual exercise of this motion, till it becomes a 
second nature. This is for art to triumph over 
nature, till art becomes natural. And be it re- 
membered that to play with a straight bat, is only 
one among many things which' a good batsman 
has to do. But however numerous they be, they 
must be done with lightning quickness. To stop 
a good ball, or to hit a bad one well, is to put the 
body into a certain posture — by no means a nat- 
ural one — before the real crisis has begun. After 
the posture is adopted, comes the stroke, and the 
stroke takes all a batsman's powers to make well. 
But if there is anything wrong with the posture, 
the stroke is spoiled. The grammar of the science 
is unsound. The posture must be correct, but 
it must be adopted unconsciously. 

Now, from these principles, which some might 



^-^ 



36 INTEENATIONAL CEICKET GUIDE. 

call truisms, a very important practical maxim 
proceeds. All sound rules of batting should be 
practiced by a young cricketer without the ball as 
well as with it. The grammar of the science can 
be partly learned in the bedroom ; the applica- 
tion of the rules must be made on the greensward. 
Many a finished batsman has tried this plan. 
Five minutes devoted every night by an aspiring 
cricketer to a leg-hit or cut, or forward play at a 
phantom ball, will gradually discipline his sinews 
to the required posture, besides sending him to 
bed in a right frame of mind. 

Like all other great achievements, the getting a 
score against good bowling is the result of drudg- 
ery, patiently, faithfully borne. But the drudg- 
ery of cricket is itself a pleasure, and let no 
young cricketer suppose that he can dispense with 
it, though some few gifted performers have done 
great things with apparently little effort. 

Again, drudgery should be supplemented by the 
imitative faculty. Here, as before, we recom- 
mend a certain amount of effort, which in itself 
is pleasurable. It is a great satisfaction to watch 
good play ; but it ought to be an instruction as 
well. 

So, if drudgery and imitation are fairly em- 
ployed, and combined with a fair natural gift, the 
result will be a good style. 

Effective play is the only really good style. But 
here a question arises. We all know that some 
players have freely adopted what is known as the 
pull, against which young cricketers are sternly 
cautioned, and they continue to pull with such 
success that a hundred runs are sometimes regis- 
tered to their names. And yet this is said to be 
bad style. The reason is that a pull is an exces- 
sively difficult stroke, which can never be made 
with safety, except by a finished batsman, and 
then only on a very good wicket. 

The object, then, of a serious-minded young 



INTEKNATIONAL CRICKET GUIDE. 37 

cricketer being to achieve a finished or effective 
and graceful style, Ave find that his principal task 
may be described as learning certain motions 
till they become habits. But before enumerating 
these motions in detail, we are brought face to 
face with a widely prevailing objection to the 
idea that young cricketers ought to be taught 
rules. 

Now, we may remark that if cricket rules are 
not to be taught till sixteen, the game differs 
essentially from every other scientific game It 
is a truism to say that tennis ought to be taught 
young, and rackets and golf and billiards ; or, 
at least, taking the greatest exponents of these 
games, both amateur and professional, we should 
find that a large majority had been trained almost 
from the cradle, certainly from the nursery. 

In the next place, no one proposes that teaching 
should take the place of nature, or that a young- 
ster should be cramped in his style. The hope is 
that he may learn to make runs, and if certain 
motions are to be learned, why not begin them 
very young? It is pretty clear that nature will 
have plenty left to do. Nor, on the other hand, 
should we venture to propose that all the refine- 
ments of the game should be taught to a boy 
hardly in his teens. It is not difficult to see what 
is really necessary to a beginner. He ought to be 
taught how to play forward, how to stand up to 
the bowling, how to put his left leg across. 

POSITION. 

It would appear at first sight as if every one 
were, as regards position, his own master. A 
spectator arriving on the ground can generally 
identify a batsman by his position. How can it 
be maintained, then, that there is one correct po- 
sition, and one only ? The answer to this is sim- 
ple enough. It matters little in what posture you 
put your body while the bowler is beginning to 



38 INTERNATIONAL CEICKET GUIDE. 

deliver the ball : the question is, wliat are jou 
doing as it comes at you? The Spartans combed 
their hair before the battle, but during the on- 
slaught behaved unlike dandies. So, as the ball 
is coming you will notice good batsmen behave 
very much alike, (a) They make the best of the 
light. The reason is that the taller a man is the 
easier it is to judge the pitch of a ball ; hence we 
all prefer to see a stumpy bowler advancing to 
the attack rather than a tall man. (b) They 
stand witn their weight equally balanced on both 
legs. This is eminently a wise thing to do, be- 
cause you cannot tell beforehand where the ball 
will pitch, and the use of both legs is required to 
enable you to play forward or back properly. 

There are other precautions taken by some first- 
rate batsmen which would be antecedent to the 
above. They draw a line carefully from the leg- 
stump out toward the crease, in order to keep 
their right toe either clear or nearly clear of the 
leg- stump. The necessity of this is, however, 
open to question. If you take your usual guard 
you ought to know accurately where your big toe 
is. Moreover, there is an objection, perhaps of 
a somewhat sentimental kind. 

Among other preliminaries, most players would 
advise that the block be taken just inside the 
crease, and the two feet turned slightly outward, 
a line drawn between the heels being at right 
angles with the crease. 

So much for the measures to be adopted before 
and while the bowler delivers the ball. There is 
one caution to be given to young players to be 
observed while the ball is in the air. Raise your 
bat ready for action, but don't brandish, twirl, 
or flourish it in any way. A flourish in batting 
is not simply a silly motion of the bat before the 
ball comes ; it is a certain formula of motion 
which, having been begun, must be finished, no 
matter what is going on. Now, when you come 



INTEENATIONAL CEICKET GUIDE. 39 

to play with professionals you will find that one 
of the many difficulties that beset you is to 
gauge the pace of the ball. No two balls are 
quite alike. So picture yourself with a ball 
coming at you a good deal faster than you at 
first supposed ; instead of being ready to bring 
your bat out at once to meet the ball, you 
are obliged to hurry over your regular two 
or three motions in the air, and then try to play. 
Result : Ignobly bowled while apparently scar- 
ing flies with your bat from the wicket-keeper's 
nose. 

The ball is now at you. Your impulse is to 
jump backward toward short-leg, so as to dimin- 
ish the chance of the ball impinging on your per- 
son. How is this innate tendency to be overcome 
under such circumstances? Any teacher of young 
batsmen ought to see carefully that the bowling 
is not too swift, or delivered from some dispro- 
portionate height, and that the wicket is respecta- 
ble. If after these precautions have been taken 
the player still shifts, a drastic remedy may be 
employed, by fastening the right leg firmly to a 
peg, and bowling at it. The great object is to get 
the boy to see that by standing quite firm on the 
right leg, and using his bat as a protection, he is 
quite as likely to escape bruises as by running 
away. And except on very bad wickets this is 
the truth. But it certainly is a difiicult power to 
acquire in early j^outh, that of standing quite still, 
when a hard sphere is hurtling on its direct road 
to the kneecap. Resolution and good wickets 
are the best remedy. Till you have attained to a 
firm right leg you have hardly begun to bat 
at all. 

FORWARD AND BACK PLAY. 

You have row learned to stand up to the ball, 
and give your undivided attention to playing it 
properly. Supposing it is straight, fairly fast, 



m 



40 



INTERNATIONAL CRICKET GUIDE. 



and just a little over -pitched ; you must play for- 
ward to it. Indeed, in your young days, even if 
the ball be not over-pitched, but just the right 
length, you had better play forward. Now, how 
is this done ? Advance the left leg, without losing 
balance ; keep head and shoulders well over the 
bat, but erect ; keep the left shoulder turned 
almost toward mid-off, and move the bat firmly 




BAD FORWARD PLAY. 

forward till it meets the ball close to your left 
foot. Above all things, be quite sure that you 
do all this in the same motion. If you move the 
leg before the arm, or, vice versa, you lose the 
weight of your body, which, of course, is wanted 
for the stroke ; and this loss partly explains the 
extraordinary difference of power in some men's 
forward play compared to that of others. You 



INTEKNATIONAL CBICKET GUIDE. 41 

will see from these directions that it is a very- 
complex action, far from easy to do all at once, 
or by the light of nature. You must first learn to 
do it properly without the ball, then with it. 
Establish the motion as a habit before the stress 
of the crisis begins. The chief faults to be avoid- 
ed are, first, the crooked movements of the bat ; 
that is to say, instead of bringing it down like a 
pendulum, you will easily get into the way of 
playing from the on to the off-side, across the line 
of the ball, or, more rarely, in the other direction. 

If you do this, the least miscalculation as to the 
pace of the ball will be fatal to you. Take warn- 
ing about this, as it is an exceedingly common 
fault. Ask your candid friend again, and if he 
reports mischief, have recourse to private practice 
in the bedroom. 

Now, it has been found that too much forward 
play on modern wickets is, though a bad thing, 
less fatal to scoring than too much back play ; 
and it ought to be the aim of all advice in batting 
to help a young player to get runs, quocunque 
modo runs, otherwise he will not learn the game. 

Therefore, if you learn to play forward cor- 
rectly, you have made a great step forward in the 
new science. You will, however, not be able just 
yet to distinguish accurately when to do one thing 
and when another. Practice and patience must 
teach you that. A few recommendations may, in 
the meantime, be made as to dealing with that 
awkward problem, a good-length straight ball. 

Give your mind to making the bat meet the ball. 
It is useless to try and stop a fast ball by hang- 
ing before it a loose, dangling bit of wood. Grip 
the handle of your bat firmly with the right hand 
— the left is not nearly so important — and then 
never play back behind the right foot. This rule 
is frequently transgressed because a batsman is 
naturally desirous of gaining time before he acts, 
and he thinks he will see more of the ball if he 



42 INTEENATIONAL CRICKET GUIDE. 

steps back or plays near the stumps — a great 
mistake ; the faster the ball is, the more in front 
of your right foot the bat should be. In fact, 
notice a player defending his wickets against very 
fast bowling indeed. You will find that he plays 
quite a short ball by advancing his left foot, and 
meeting the ball between his two feet, about a 
foot in front of the crease. In your young days 
you will probably not have to face any bowling as 
fast as this. The first time you do, your knowl- 
edge of life will be materially extended ; but you 
will best prepare yourself against that day by 
playing back, as it is called, close to the right 
foot, but never behind it. 

Again, when balls are twisting, beware of run- 
ning out to the off-balls, especially if they are 
slow. As to running out generally, there is little 
to be said but this : When you run out at all, do 
so with a hearty good-will, and an utter forget- 
fulness of the wicket behind you. How many 
scores of wickets have been lost by a half-hearted 
sort of lurching out of the ground just far enough 
for the victim to be stumped, and not far enough 
to get near the pitch of the ball. It is a good plan 
to run out as if hoping to hit the ball full-pitch, 
and then you will be far enough for the half- 
volley. But though this mode of scoring is most 
effective when adopted by a bold hitter with some 
nerve, it is most disastrous for a batsman to at- 
tempt who is not by nature fitted for the task. 

There are many good batters who play lobs 
tight- footed, and a great nuisance they are to the 
bowler. So make clear to yourself what you are 
born to do, and do it. Meanwhile there are so- 
called lobs which are plain fast under-hand balls, 
and as such ought to be played forward. Be on 
the look-out for these as well as for the slower 
ones, which give great promise of twist, and then 
bound straight on. In short, lobs test the native 
gift of a young player very well, as he cannot 



INTEBNATIONAL CKICKET GUIDE. 43 

play them by rule. Perhaps the best piece of ad- 
vice you could get would be simply this : As long 
as you are an unfinished batsman, play very 
steadily at all decent balls, and wait quietly for 
some of the bad ones which every lob-bowler has 
in his repertoire, and which, if you are patient, he 
is certain sooner or later to produce. The above 
remarks apply also to playing some very slow 
round-hand bowling, such as is seldom seen in 
good matches, but is effective against boys, and 
is known by the contumelious designation of 
** donkey-drops." 

OFF-HITTING. 

It is now time to treat of the punishing of 
crooked fast bowling. We will deal first with 
off -hitting. If you look attentively at some good 
batsmen, you will see that they adopt different mo- 
tions according as the off-ball is short or well 
picked-up. In the latter case they advance the 
left foot ; in the former the right. Now, if you 
wish to adopt the former course, you will aban- 
don all idea of cutting with the right foot, unless 
you have quite naturally fallen into the Avay of 
doing so, and are advised not to change it. If 
this is, however, the case, you will find some ad- 
vice on the subject below. At present we will 
suppose that you have an open mind on the ques- 
tion, and are ready to do what is generally thought 
to be safest. Advance the left leg, then, well out, 
and across the wicket till it is in front of the off- 
stump. Further than this is very seldom neces- 
sary. On the other hand it is often right not to 
step so much across. The object is to command 
the ball, and if it be coming only a little wide of 
the off-stump, you will do enough if you merely 
advance the leg toward the bowler. The left 
shoulder meantime must be pointing toward mid- 
off, and the left foot also. Avoid pointing the left 
foot at point, as the manner of some is. It de- 



u 



INTERNATIONAL CRICKET GUIDE. 



stroys your balance. Of course your eye has been 
coldly fixed on the ball all this while, so that the 
final position of the left leg ought to be deter- 
mined by the exact distance the ball is from you. 
And mind that, as in forward play, your step 




THE OFF-HIT, SHOWING THE COMMON 

MISTAKE OF BENDING THE 

RIGHT KNEE. 

forward and across should be made exactly as 
you deliver your blow from the shoulders with the 
bat. This brings the weight of your body into 
the stroke, as is explained below. The stroke is 



INTERNATIONAL CRICKET GUIDE. 45 

from above, slightly downward. It very often 
happens that some lengthy assailant is put on to 
bowl steadily overhand outside the off-stump, 
for no purpose whatever t-Ajept to get catches 
sent to short-slip, point, and wicket-kepp, and if 
there is the slightest unevenness in ihe ground, 
a great number of bad, scratchy hits are made 
before each batsman has got his eye in. Of 
course, if the balls are kicking, and the batsmen 
are not very tall, there will be trouble. Some- 
thing may be done by a policy of masterly inac- 
tivity, and letting some of the balls go by ; but 
this is a miserable device unless the ground is play- 
ing very difficult. You may, however, do it with 
advantage before your eye is in, for a few min- 
utes, because the danger is one of hitting late for 
the ball, and so snicking it. 

Again, when the ground is uncertain, you 
may play for safety by stepping well across and 
meeting the ball with a full face of the vertical 
bat, instead of hitting horizontally. But this 
only applies to balls a little way outside the 
stump. There is, besides, a danger to which you 
are exposed in changeable weather. Suppose the 
wicket has been true and dry, and then comes a 
slight shower. The players retire, and, on resum- 
ing, the batsman forgets that the surface of the 
ground is taster than it was. 

THE CUT WITH THE RIGHT FOOT. 

This is without any exception the most fascinat- 
ing stroke in the game. At no moment does the 
motion of the batsman seem so easy, or his force 
so mysterious. But it cannot be denied that the 
delicacy of the stroke means danger to the striker. 
It is made as follows : — When the batsman sees 
the ball coming to the off, and not far pitched, he 
moves the left leg a little forward, to get leverage 
for his stroke. Be it remembered that he would 
do exactly this if he were going to make the ordi- 



46 INTEENATIONAL CKICKET GUIDE. 

nary left-foot cut, or off -hit with the left foot out. 

But the difference is that in the latter case he 
ought not to brin^ the left foot on to the ground 
till he can do so simultaneously with the bat hit- 
ting the ball, on the principle of the body moving ' 
with the arms. But in the case of a right-foot 
cut, this motion of the left leg is made before the 
stroke proper begins. As soon, then, as the bats- 
man has made this preparation, he raises the 
right foot an inch or two from the ground, holds 
it poised for a brief moment, then brings it down 
with a peculiar smart stamp close behind the 
block hole, or somewhere hard by, according to 
the exact line the ball is taking; and exactly 
simultaneously with this stamp, the indescribable 
swirl of the bat is made which sends the ball skim- 
ming between point and third man, or sometimes, 
off very fast bowling, to " the left hand of third 
man. 

If well timed, the stroke gives a kind of soft, 
creamy touch to the bat, and the whiz of the ball 
past the admiring third man signalizes one of 
those moments when a cricketer can justly say he 
has not lived in vain. 

LEG-HITTING. 

Really good leg-hitters are rare, but where they 
exist they often win a match for their side. So 
learn to hit to leg as you have learned the other 
strokes, by practicing the following motion without 
the ball. Imagine a ball bowled outside your legs, 
either of a good length or further up (short of a 
tice) , and you then advance the left leg right out, 
but not so that you straddle or lose balance, turn- 
ing the left foot toward mid-on, and keeping both 
eyes sternly fixed on the ball. "Then all in one 
motion bring the right shoulder well round, and 
deal a mighty blow, the bat being swung slant- 
wise or nearly horizontally, according to the pitch 
of the ball. There is no doubt that pointing the 



INTERNATIONAL CEICXET GUIDE. 



47 



left foot to -mid-on is an important maneuver in 
leg-hitting. It gives ease to the bringing round 
of the right shoulder, and prevents that uneasy 




THE BEGINNING OF THE LEG HIT, SPOILED 

BY THE LEFT FOOT BEING TOO 

STRAIGHT AND THE RIGHT 

KNEE BENT. 

stumbling which is often noticeable after a hit has 
been made, and occasionally prevents the batsman 
from starting fairly on his run. But it is not at 



m 



48 INTEENATIONAL CKICKET GUIDE. 

all easy to secure this habit, and therefore you 
should remember it carefully in your bedroom. 
All leg-hitting depends upon your not being afraid 
of the ball ; it is terribly common to see some 
well-made, lusty lad feebly stroking outward with 
his bat, his eyes being averted as from a horrid 
sight, and his whole body lurching uneasily 
toward point, plainly showing that his main idea 
is to save his person from a knock, rather than 
score runs for his side and honor for himself. 
There are countless leg-balls missed by good play- 
ers simply from ignorance of these directions, and 
also many bad high hits are made because the 
stroke is attempted with a nearly vertical bat, 
swung across the line of the ball close to the legs, 
instead of well out toward the pitch. 

When balls are pitched short outside the legs, it 
is best to quickly snick them away for two or 
three past long-stop. It is a difficult stroke to 
make, but safe and effective. Many batsmen find 
it best to do this also to left-handed bowlers, 
whenever the ball is outside the legs. But if you 
have a good eye, you can often hit them with 
advantageous results. If the ball is coming at your 
legs it must obviously be checked somehow. If a 
short ball, draw the left leg back close to the 
right, keeping the left side toward the bowler, 
and give the ball either a little push away from 
you, so as to snick it, or a smart tap in front of 
short leg. If the ball be pitched far up, deal 
with it by the hit or by forward play, as if it were 
straight. The latter stroke is one of the most 
beautiful in the game, but very rarely made, as it 
demands a perfect judgment of the pitch, besides 
utter fearlessness as to a possible contusion, and 
a good wicket; which three "conditions are not 
always fulfilled at the same time. 

Now, the force of the stroke depends on two 
things : first, the power that is given to the bat ; 
secondly, the exact point of time at which it comes 



INTERNATIONAL CRICKET GUIDE. 49 

in contact with the ball : the momentum and the 
moment of the stroke. The share taken by the 
legs and shoulders in the stroke effect the momen- 
tum in this way. The bat strikes the ball, not 
only because the arms move it, but because the 
striker walks toward the ball as well. 

So much for the momentum. Important though 
it is, I cannot but feel certain that the moment is 
more important still. 

An apparently gentle stroke with the bat swings 
it so that at one tiny moment of time it is moving 
very fast. If even a lanky youth utilizes this 
moment in his stroke the results are surprising. 
The bowler marvels, and point steps a yard fur- 
ther back. If a big man does so, and adds the 
momentum of his body, the speed with which the 
ball travels is more surprising still. It is clear 
that the very least conceivable miscalculation of 
time will effect the force of the blow till nothing 
is left in it but a sort of sloppy, tired hit which 
seems to exhaust the strength of the batsman far 
more than any clean stroke 'possibly can. 

Now this explanation has more than a theoreti- 
cal interest ; it will give you some clew to your 
trouble when you find things going wrong. It 
will render superfluous much abuse of the bat 
you may be using, since no stroke can drive that 
is not well-timed ; and it will show you why it is 
that some days your hitting is clean, and other 
days weak and uncertain. If it varies in this 
way it must be because something affects your 
eye from time to time, and it is your business to 
discover what that may be. If, on the other hand, 
it appears that your strokes habitually fail to tell 
as they should, it will probably be owing to your 
body not being properly utilized, and a spell of 
bedroom practice should at once be inaugurated. 

STALENESS. 

This is no new stroke in batting, nor can it be 



50 INTERNATIONAL CRICKET GUIDE. 

called a refinement, as it is thought to be common 
among all classes of players. Staleness is of the 
nature of a disease ; and yet no doctor, as far as 
I am aware, has rightly diagnosed it, or invented 
anything like an infallible cure for it. The fact 
is, the word has been often profaned, as Shelley 
might have sung. It has been widely and thought- 
lessly used ; and a good many cricketers have 
been accustomed to attributing any ill luck they 
may have had to this mysterious staleness. 

Staleness, then, so far as may be gathered from 
the use of the word among cricketers, is a certain 
indisposition toward cricket which is supposed to 
be the result of an excessive amount of play. It 
is not the same as fatigue, though one of its 
symptoms is often a kind of lassitude ; but it 
might be described generally as the very reverse 
of keenness, and, when its sensations coincide 
with low scoring, a cricketer is apt to tell his 
friends that he is stale, as if that were enough 
to explain everything. 

It seems to be allowed that a crew may be over- 
trained, or a runner, or a racket-player. In 
comparatively simple exercises, such as these, the 
exact meaning of over -training or staleness is not 
very difficult to seize. Certain muscles are 
brought into very violent motion day after day. 
As long as this continues, and there is no tax 
upon the rest of the system, the muscles of a 
healthy man grow strong'^r. But there comes a 
climax to this, when, consistently with his gen- 
eral health, he cannot give more to those muscles 
than he has given. 

Now, why does the set of muscles deteriorate 
after this point has been reached ? Simply be- 
cause muscular power depends" on nerve-power, 
and nerve-power depends on change and recrea- 
tion. Monotony is the secret of the failure of 
nerve-power, and it is far easier for a man to 
reach and overtop his prime in a simple monoto- 



INTERNATIONAL CRICKET GUIDE. 51 

nous use of certain muscles than it is in a com- 
plex exercise. This will, I think, be admitted, if 
we assume that one is laboring to perfect himself 
in lifting heavy weights. For a time he would 
improve, but finding then that he ceased to im- 
prove, his instincts would persuade him to stop 
for fear of a decline. * But* the difference in re- 
spect to monotony between rowing or running and 
cricket is enormous. Cricket is the least mono- 
tonous game conceivable. It is really a trinity 
of games. Batting: is a science in itself, which 
contains more variety (if we consider differences 
of wickets, etc.) than almost any other game ; for 
instance, as compared with a game like tennis, it 
has the advantage of using both arms — that is, 
a double set of muscles — and not a single set of 
muscles in one arm. 

These considerations have now paved the way 
for an investigation of the place really due to 
staleness among the causes of failure in batting. 
My conviction is, that its influence is much 
overrated. It seems very doubtful indeed if, as 
defined above, it can ever be proved to exist at 
all ; and if any one feels sure that he has at times 
been stale, he will probably find, on careful recol- 
lection of the circumstances, that he is using the 
word in a wider sense than it is used here, and 
that he is attributing to staleness various results 
of ill health, bad luck, etc. 

Hence, in case of sudden failure in batting, a 
cricketer should consider if he has any reason to 
suppose that it is due to staleness, properly so 
called, I.e., over-exertion of a monotonous kind. 
He should beware of a tendency to ascribe it to 
this. 

Nevertheless there are causes of failure, some 
of which we have touched upon, which are to 
some extent preventable. In the first place it is 
clear that as the state of a man's spirits and 
pluck has a good deal to do with it, he may as 



52 INTERNATIONAL CBICKET GUIDE. 

well do his utmost to keep them as well as his 
muscles in good condition. If he has made some 
bad scores, and can find no reason, he should 
remember that the chances which attend on each 
ball are infinite in number, and, very often no 
explanation is needed except that a bad stroke 
has gone to a field and has been caught, whereas 
at other times just as bad strokes have escaped. 
It is quite undeniable that, as a test of character 
and temper, a good long spell of bad luck is unri- 
valed ; especially for a young fellow trying for 
high distinction, who knows that he has virtue in 
him. But it will be some help to him to bear in 
mind that his best chance is to continue constant 
and eager, and not to bore his friends in the 
street, or to fume over it in bed. And then, even 
if the runs do not come, he is laying up for him- 
self a toughness of fiber for other spheres of life, 
which some more successful cricketers might 
well envy. 

In the next place, he may be dieting himself 
foolishly. Considering the delicacy of the human 
eye, and its intimate connection with the diges- 
tion, it is foolish for a batsman to rave at for- 
tune when he eats a huge dinner every night, and 
either goes to bed in a loaded condition, or sits 
up fooling till two or three in the morning. Peo- 
ple differ about diet, but I should advise any dis- 
appointed cricketer, in default of other precau- 
tions, to begin by cutting down his dinner, and 
try going to bed a little earlier. Next let him 
try getting up a little earlier, and a certain in- 
crease of abstemiousness all round, though of 
course a young cricketer's appetite demands gen- 
erous treatment. But nowadays the rules of sim- 
ple training are so accessible and so thoroughly 
sensitive, that it would be useless for me to insist 
on any such recommendations as these. 

Lastly, he may be taking it out of himself by 
headwork. The disorders which arise from this 



INTEBNATIONAL CEICKET GUIDE. 53 

imprudence need not be pictured as very rampant 
among cricketers. Indeed, I am convinced that 
some headwork which is not too exciting, which 
is also moderate and regular, is very advan- 
tageous to cricket, as a counter-interest. But if 
it is allowed to interfere with sleep, or necessi- 
tates an early breakfast, so that the batsman goes 
in hungry between twelve and two in the day, 
mischief will come of it. 



W'^'.'^Wiirm 



54 INTERNATIONAL CRICKET GUIDE. 



LAWS OF CRICKET. 

The Game. 

1. A match is played between two sides of 
eleven players each, unless otherwise agreed 
upon ; each side has two innings, taken alter- 
nately, except in the case provided for in Law 53. 
The choice of innings shall be decided by tossing. 

JRwis. 

2. The score shall be reckoned by runs. A run 
is scored : — 

1st. As often as the batsmen after a hit, or at 
any time while the ball is in play, shall 
have crossed, and made good their ground 
from end to end. 
2nd. For penalties under Laws 16, 34, 41, and 
allowances under 44. 
Any run or runs so scored shall be duly record- 
ed by scorers appointed for the purpose. 

The side which scores the greatest number of 
runs wins the* match. No match is won unless 
played out or given up, except in the case pro- 
vided in Law 45. 

Appointment of Umpires. 

3. Before the commencement of the match two 
umpires shall be appointed ; one for each end. 

The Ball. 

4. The ball shall weigh not less than five ounces 
and a half, nor more than five ounces and three- 
quarters. It shall measure not less than nine 
inches, nor more than nine inches and one-quar- 
ter in circumference. At the beginning of each 
innings either side may demand a new ball. 



INTERNATIONAL CRICKET GUIDE. 55 

The Bat. 

5. The bat shall not exceed four inches and one- 
quarter in the widest part ; it shall not be more 
than thirty-eight inches in length. 

The Wickets. 

6. The wickets shall be pitched opposite and 
parallel to each other at a distance of twenty- 
two yards. Each wicket shall be eight inches in 
width and consist of three stumps, with two bails 
upon the top. The stumps shall be of equal and 
sufficient size to prevent the ball from passing 
through, tweiity-seven inches out of the ground. 

The bails shall be each four inches in length, 
and when in position, on the top of the stumps, 
shall not project more than half an inch above 
them. The wickets shall not be changed during 
a match, unless the ground between them be- 
comes unfit for play, and then only by consent of 
both sides. 

The Bowling Crease. 

7. The bowling crease shall be in a line with 
the stumps ; six feet eight inches in length ; the 
stumps in the center ; with a return crease at 
each end, at right angles behind the wicket. 

The Popping Crease. 

8i The popping crease shall be marked four 
feet from the wicket, parallel to it, and be deemed 
unlimited in length. 

The Ground. 

9. The ground shall not be rolled, watered, cov- 
ered, mown, or beaten during a match, except 
before the commencement of each inning and of 
each day's play, when, unless the in-side object, 
the ground shall be swept and rolled for not more 
than ten minutes. This shall not prevent the 
batsman from beating the ground with his bat, 



56 INTEBNATIONAL CEICKET GUIDE. 

nor the batsman nor bowler from using sawdust 
in order to obtain a proper foothold. 

The Bowler. No Ball. 

10. The ball must be bowled ; if thrown or 
jerked, the umpire shall call, "No ball." 

11. The bowler shall deliver the ball with one 
foot on the ground behind the crease, and within 
the return crease, otherwise the umpire shall call, 
"No ball." 

Wide Ball, 

12. If the bowler shall bowl the ball so high 
over or so wide of the wicket that in the opinion 
of the umpire it is not within reach of the striker, 
the umpire shall call, "Wide ball." 

The Over. 

13. The ball shall be bowled in overs of five 
balls from each wicket alternately. When five 
balls have been bowled, and the ball is finally set- 
tled in the bowler's or wicket-keeper's hands, the 
umpire shall call, "Over." Neither a "No ball" 
nor a "Wide ball" shall be reckoned a§ one of 
the "Over." 

14. The bowler shall be allowed to change ends 
as often as he pleases, provided only that he does 
not bowl two overs consecutively in one inning. 

15. The bowler may require the batsman at the 
wicket from which he is bowling to stand on that 
side of it which he may direct. 

Scoring off No Balls and Wide Balls. 

16. The striker may hit a "No ball," and what- 
ever runs result shall be added to his score ; but 
he shall not be out from a "No ball," unless he be 
run out or break Laws 26, 27, 29, 80. All runs 
made from a "No ball," otherwise than from the 
bat, shall be scored "No balls," and if no run be 
made, one run shall be added to that score. From 
a "Wide ball," as many runs as are run shall be 



INTERNATIONAL CRICKET GUIDE. 57 

added to the score as ''Wide balls," and if no 
run be otherwise obtained, one run shall be so 
added. 

Bye. 

17. If the ball, not having been called "Wide" 
or "No ball," pass the striker without touching 
his bat, or i^erson, and any runs be obtained, the 
umpire shall call, "Bye;" but if the ball touch 
any part of the striker's person (hand excepted) 
and any run be obtained, the umpire shall call, 
"Leg Bye," such runs to be scored "Byes," and 
"Leg Byes," respectively. 

Play. 

18. At the beginning of the match, and of each 
inning, the umpire at the bowler's wicket shall 
call, "Play ;" from that tijne no trial ball shall be 
allowed to any bowler on the ground between the 
wickets, and when one of the batsmen is out, the 
use of the bat shall not be allowed to any person 
until the next batsman shall come in. 

Definitions. 

19. A batsman shall be held to be "out of his 
ground," unless his bat in hand or some part of 
his person be grounded within the line of the pop- 
ping crease. 

20. The wicket shall be held to be "down" when 
either of the bails is struck off, or if both bails 
be off, when a stump is struck out the ground. 

The Striker. 
The striker is out — 

21. If the wicket be bowled down, even if the 
ball first touch the striker's bat or person : — 
"Bowled." 

22. Or, if the ball, from a stroke of the bat or 
hand, but not the wrist, be held before it touch 
the ground, although it be hugged to the body of 
the C3.tcfcier:— "Caught." 



^m 



58 INTERNATIONAL CEICKET GUIDE. 

23. Or, if in playing at the ball, provided it be 
not touched by the bat or hand, the striker be out 
of his ground, and the wicket be put down by the 
wicket-keeper with the ball or with hand or arm, 
with ball in hand : — "Stumped." 

24. Or, if with any part of his person he stops 
the ball which, in the opinion of the umpire at 
the bowler's wicket, shall have been pitched in a 
straight line from it to the striker's wicket and 
would have hit it : — "Leg before wicket." 

25. Or, if in playing at the ball he hit down his 
wicket with his bat or any part of his person 
or dress :—" Hit wicket." 

26. Or, if under pretense of running, or other- 
wise, either of the batsmen willfully prevent a 
ball from being caught : — "Obstructing the field." 

27. Or, if the ball be struck, or be stopped by 
any part of his person, and he willfully strikes 
again, except it be done for the purpose of guard- 
ing his wicket, which he may do with his bat, or 
any part of his person, except his hands : — "Hit 
the ball twice." 

The Batsman. 

Either batsman is out — 

28. If in running, or at any other time, while 
the ball is in play, he be out of his ground, and 
his wicket be struck down by the ball after touch- 
ing any fieldsman, or by the hand or arm, with 
ball in hand, of any fieldsman : — "Eun out." 

29. Or, if he touch with his hands, or take up 
the ball while in play, unless at the request of 
the opposite side : — "Handled the ball." 

30. Or, if he willfully obstruct any fieldsman : — 
* ' Obstructing the field. " 

31. If the batsmen have crossed each other, he 
that runs for the wicket which is puc down is out ; 
if they have not crossed, he that has left the 
wicket which is put down is out. 

32. The striker being caught, no run shall be 



INTEKNATIONAL CKICKET GUIDE. 59 

scored. A batsman being run out, that run 
which was being attempted shall not be scored. 

33. A batsman being out from any cause, the 
ball shall be "dead." 

Lost Ball. 

34. If a ball in play cannot be found or recov- 
ered, any fieldsman may call, "Lost ball," when 
the ball shall be "dead ;" six runs shall be added 
to the score ; but if more tnan six runs have been 
run before "Lost ball" has been called, as many 
runs as have been run shall be scored. 

35. After the ball shall have been finally settled 
in the wicket-keeper's or bowler's hand, it shall 
be "dead;" but when the bowler is about to de- 
liver the ball, if the batsman at his wicket be out 
of his ground before actual delivery, the said 
bowler may run him out ; but if the bowler throw 
at that wicket, and any run result^ it shall be 
scored "No ball." 

36. A batsman shall not retire from his wicket 
and return to it to complete his inning after an- 
other has been in, without the consent of the op- 
posite side. 

Substitute. 

37. A substitute shall be allowed to field or run 
between wickets for any player who may during 
the match be incapacitated by illness or injury, 
but for no other reason, except with the consent 
of the opposite side. 

38. In all cases where a substitute shall be 
allowed, the consent of the opposite side shall be 
obtained as to the person to act as substitute, and 
the place in the field which he shall take. 

39. In case any substitute shall be allowed to 
run between wickets, the striker may be run out 
if he or his substitute be out of his ground. If the 
striker be out of his ground while the ball is in 
play, that wicket which he has left may be put 



60 INTERNATIONAL CRICKET GUIDE. 

down and the striker given out, although the 
other batsman may have made good the ground at 
that end, and the striker and his substitute at 
the other end. 

40. A batsman is liable to be out for any in- 
fringement of the Laws by his substitute. 

The Fieldsman. 

41. The fieldsman may stop the ball with any 
part of his person, but if he willfully stops it 
otherwise, the ball shall be "dead," and five runs 
added to the score ; whatever runs may have been 
made, five only shall be added. 

Wiclcet-Keeper. 

42. The wicket-keeper shall stand behind the 
wicket. If he shall take the ball for the purpose 
of stumping before it has passed the wicket, or, 
if he shall disturb the striker by any noise, 
or motion, or if any part of his person be over or 
before the wicket, the striker shall not be out, ex- 
cepting under Laws 2^, 27, 28, 29, and 30. 

Duties of Umpires. 

43. The umpires are the sole judges of fair or 
unfair play, of the fitness of the ground, the 
weather, and the light for play ; all disputes shall 
be settled by them, and if they disagree, the 
actual state of things shall continue. 

44. They shall pitch fair wickets, arrange 
boundaries where necessary, and the allowance 
to be made for them, and change ends after each 
side has had one inning. 

45. They shall allow two minutes for each 
striker to come in, and ten minutes between each 
inning. When they shall call, "Play," the side 
refusing to play shall lose the match. 

46. They shall not order a batsman out unless 
appealed to by the other side. 

47. The umpire at the bowler's wicket shall be 



INTERNATIONAL CRICKET GUIDE. 61 

appealed to before the other umpire in all cases 
except in those of stumping, hit wicket, run out 
at the striker's wicket, or arising out of Law 42, 
but in any case in which an umpiie is unable to 
give a decision, he shall appeal to the other 
umpire, whose decision shall be final. 

48. If the umpire at the bowler's end be not sat- 
isfied of the absolute fairness of the delivery of 
any ball, he shall call, "No ball." 

48a. The umpire shall take especial care to call, 
"No ball" instantly upon delivery; "Wide ball" 
as soon as it shall have passed the striker. 

49. if either batsman run a short run, the um- 
pire shall call, "One short," and the run shall not 
be scored. 

50. After the umpire has called, "Over," the 
ball is "dead," but an appeal may be made as to 
whether either batsman is out ; such appeal, how- 
ever, shall not be made after the delivery of the 
next ball, nor after any cessation of play. 

51. No umpire shall be allowed to bet. 

52. No umpire shall be changed during a match, 
unless with the consent of both sides, except in 
case of violation of Law 51 ; then either side may 
dismiss him. 

Following Innings. 

53. The side which goes in second shall follow 
their innings, if they have scored eighty runs less 
than the opposite side. 

54. On the last day of a match, and in a one-day 
match at any time, the in-side may declare their 
innings at an end. 



rik 



62 INTEBNATIONAL CBICKET GUIDE. 



ONE-DAY MATCHES. 

1. The side which goes in second shall follow 
their inning if they have scored sixty runs less 
than the opposite side. 

2. The match, unless played out, shall be de- 
cided by the first innings. Prior to the com- 
mencement of a match it may be agreed — that the 
" Over" consist of five or six balls. 



SINGLE WICKET. 

The Laws are, where they apply, the same as the 
above, with the following alterations and 
additions. 

1. One wicket shall be pitched, as in Law 6, 
with a bowling stump opposite to it, at a distance 
of twenty-two yards. The bowling crease shall 
be in a line with the bowling stump ; and drawn 
according to Law 7. 

2. When there shall be less than five players 
on a side, bounds shall be placed twenty-two 
yards each in a line from the off and leg stump. 

3. The ball must be hit before the bounds to en- 
title the striker to a run, which run cannot be ob- 
tained unless he touch the bowling stump or 
crease in a line with his bat, or some part of his 
person, or go beyond them, and return to the pop- 
ping crease. 

4. When the striker shall hit the ball, one of his 
feet must be on the ground behind the popping 
crease, otherwise the umpire shall call, "No hit," 
and no run shall be scored. 



INTEBNATIONAL CEICKET GUIDE. 63 

5. When there shall be less than five players on 
a side, neither byes, leg byes, nor overthrows 
shall be allowed, nor shall the striker be caught 
out behind the wicket, nor stumped. 

6. The fieldsman must return the ball so that it 
shall cross the ground between the wicket and the 
bowling stump, or between the bowling stump and 
the bounds ; the striker may run until the ball be 
so returned. 

7. After the striker shall have made one run, 
if he start again he must touch the bowling stump 
or crease, ajnd return before the ball shall cross 
the ground to entitle him to another. 

8 The striker shall be entitled to three runs 
for lost ball, and the same number for balls will- 
fully stopped by a fieldsman otherwise than with 
any part of his person. 

9. When there shall be more than four players 
on a side, there shall be no bounds. All hits, 
byes, leg byes, and overthrows shall then be 
allowed. 

10. There shall be no restriction as to the ball 
being bowled in Overs, but no more than one min- 
ute shall be allowed between each ball. 



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